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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · degree · current · hand · roll · cue · bowl · last

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — from a university
  3. last — final
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. cue — a hint
  7. roll — a list
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cue — for pool
  13. last — finally
  14. wound — an injury
  15. current — electric
  16. last — to go on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. current — happening now
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cue — a signal
  21. roll — a cake
  22. current — of water
  23. hand — help
  24. bowl — to roll

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com